The King’s community is dedicated to the service of society. King’s Strategic Vision 2029 sets out our vision for the future, shaped around five priority areas: educate to inspire and improve; research to inform and innovate; serve to shape and transform; a civic university at the heart of London; and an international community that services the world. Our ambitious Education Strategy sets out the actions that we must take to transform how we teach, how and where our students learn and how we support them during their time with us.

 

In the Social Mobility & Widening Participation Department we believe all young people should be able to have high expectations for their future. This means equal access to education and career opportunities. We run programmes that aim to empower young people from under-represented backgrounds to access and succeed at university.

 

We are part of the Students & Education Directorate, a collection of wide-ranging professional services in place to support King’s students and their education. As a directorate we manage the student lifecycle from application to graduation and beyond, to ensure a coherent and seamless student experience and effective administrative processes, working closely with King’s faculties to do so. 

The Head of Widening Participation & Fair Access provides operational leadership for the university’s post-16 and priority groups access portfolio, with overarching responsibility for the design, delivery and impact of activity that underpins Intervention Strategy 1 of King’s Access & Participation Plan. The role leads flagship access programmes including K+, oversees the university’s approach to contextual admissions, and directs targeted access and transition activity for priority and under-represented groups, ensuring alignment with institutional access objectives and regulatory commitments.

 

The postholder provides strong and visible line management for the post-16 team, comprising senior officers and officers responsible for the design and delivery of access and priority group interventions. They ensure the team is well-led, with clear objectives, accountability and a shared focus on quality, impact and continuous improvement. Through effective workload planning, performance management and skills development, the role ensures that post-16 activity is delivered to a consistently high standard, aligned to institutional priorities and contributing directly to the achievement of Access & Participation Plan objectives.

 

The postholder ensures the effective and compliant delivery of the post-16 and priority groups portfolio through robust operational planning, budget and resource management, risk mitigation and escalation and close alignment with faculties and central functions. They lead the preparation of policy briefings relating to access and admissions, and ensure that all activity is coherently aligned to King’s Access & Participation Plan, evidencing impact on social mobility and access to the university.

 

Heads of/Senior Managers work within and across teams and functions, engaging with a wide range of colleagues across King’s. They contribute and lead on activities which positively impact the student experience. This includes ensuring:

 

•         Close working with their Associate Director, and across organisational boundaries, to identify and action opportunities to improve efficiency and consistency of service (or project) delivery

•         Efficient resource utilisation and organisation of work resources within their department (or project)

•         Proactive engagement with service users and stakeholders to facilitate mutually effective working relationships

•         Their department (or project) embeds a culture of service, transparency and continuous improvement

 

This is an exciting opportunity for candidates looking to take up a leadership position in widening participation, and who wish to utilise their skills and expertise in designing and delivering high-intensity programmes while managing a dedicated team. This is an opportunity to grow your skills in budget planning and policy implementation.

 

We encourage applications from candidates who have experience from both within and outside of the Higher Education sector where they can demonstrate the skills needed to succeed in this role.

 

This is a full time post and you will be offered a fixed term contract until March 2027.